Mates,

Another of my LH soldiers who was commisioned into the RN during the war.

Allen Russell Calender Sinclair .

He was a Marine Engineer pre war and was commison into the Fleet Aux in Sept 1917 coming from Brockley London and Ashfield in Sydney NSW.

His documents claim service on the Mine layer "HMS Princess Margaret" from 10th Dec 1917 to 15th Jan 1919.

Do you have any records or details of this ship and its movements and again is there any records of this man in the RNR.

Thanks again for insight into this man or his service.

Cheers

S.B

Hi
I Have the following information:

HMS PRINCESS MARGARET.
Liner.
Launched 24th June 1914.
G.R.T. 5934
Speed 23 Knots

Mine Layer [Mercantile Conversion]
Fitted out by Denny.
Pendant No. P.46 [Jan, 1915] N.82 [Jan. 1918]
Armament: 2-4in and 2-3in guns plus 400 mines. [Another source states 500 mines!]
Hired 26th Dec, 1914.
Purchased 14th June 1919.
Sold 30th May 1929 Galbraith.
Re-sold 2nd July 1929 to Hughes Bolckow, Blyth for breaking up.

15th April 1918 was part of Force C that took part in the British light forces raid in the Katteagt.

Note: She was the only minelayer to be kept in service after the war.

I do have a copy of the ship's badge if you require it?

Regards
Arthur

Steve,

Princess Margaret and her sister ship Princess Irene were built for the Canadian Pacific Railroad Co, but were requisitioned and converted into mine-layers. In May 1915, while outfitting for a mine-laying mission, Princess Irene blew up about 3 miles off Sheerness (River Medway, North Kent), killing all but one of the 350+ men on board at the time and scattering wreckage and remains over a wide area. There is an account of the disaster at [url=http://www.gwpda.org/naval/pirene.htm], together with a photo of Princess Margaret.

Cheers

Mick

Hi,
Just a little more information.

Ordered 25th May 1913.
Built by William Denny & Bros, Dumbarton.
23rd Oct, 1914 she carried out trials in C.P.R. colours.
After being purchased by the Admiralty in 1919 she served in the Baltic.

Click to view attachment

Further information can be found in:

Blown to Eternity! -- the PRINCESS IRENE story
Author: John Hendy,
Publication Number: 8319 ISBN: 1-871947-61-8, Publication Date: 2001:

The turbine steam ship PRINCESS IRENE and her identical sister PRINCESS MARGARET were built in 1914 for a service that neither would ever see. They were ordered by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company but following the outbreak of war in Europe, the Royal Navy hastily converted them for a totally unforeseen role. They emerged in the early months of 1915 as the minelayers HMS PRINCESS IRENE and HMS PRINCESS MARGARET. After just two months in service, whilst swinging on No. 28 buoy off Port Victoria pier on the River Medway in Kent, the PRINCESS IRENE was destroyed by a catastrophic internal explosion. This is her story. 210 mm x 150 mm. 36 pages. Soft cover.

Regards
Arthur

One of the 305 Great War dead commemorated on the virtual Memorial website of the Department of Trade & Industry [url=http://www.dti.gov.uk/warmemorial] is HJB Farley, a naval shipwright, who is one of very few victims of the Princess Irene explosion to have a known grave.

It also adds (further to the details posted by Arthur) that Blown to Eternity! The Princess Irene Story, by John Hendy, can be obtained from Ferry Publications, PO Box 33, Ramsey, Isle of Man, IM99 4LP - www.ferrypubs.co.uk

Interestingly, Jane's Fighting Ships, 1919, says that Princess Margaret was not requisitioned, but chartered, and was bought by the Admiralty in 1919. Presumably because of her accommodation (having been built as a passenger ship), she took part in the evacuation of White Russians after the Revolution, and was also the venue for meetings discussing the practical implementation of the German/Russian armistice on the Baltic front. So Steve's man may not have spent all his time laying mines.

Mick

Thanks mates,

The back ground on this ship is interesting.

My thinking she may have been a type of trawler but a large passenger type didn't cross my mind.

One dose wonder how they laided the mines from the rear of a passanger ship and she must of had some conversion to do that job.

My bloke arrive at the game a bit late but appears to have spent some 14 months on her as an Engineer officer.

Thanks again for the help.

Cheers

S.B

Steve,

Some trawler !! She was (originally) a passenger ship of almost 6000 tons. Sorry I can't help you more with your man, but she had an interesting life, and I hope you will be able to fit him in to it.

Cheers
Mick

Hi all

This is my first post on this forum, so please forgive me if I make a pig's ear of things.
This is fascinating, as my father's uncle John Steel, was a Roayal Marine in the RM Light Infantry. His parchment also shows that he served on the Princess Margaret at the same time as ARC Sinclair.
I inherited his records, parchments, service medals, and a specific medal cast in white metal stating on one side that it had been given in rememberance from the grateful passengers for their deliverance from the Blosheviks, Riga to London, 3rd Jan 1919 to 17th Jan 1919.

There is one in the maritime museum as well. See http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/explore/o...cture=2#content

Does anyone else know anything about this mission?

Andy Steel
Manchester